The South African Infantry Brigade’s first introduction to fighting on the Western Front was to be a baptism of fire.
The 4th SAI firstly lost their C.O., Lt. Col. F.A. Jones, at Bernafay Wood with Donald taking brief command before handing over to D.M. MacLeod. Then, at Delville Wood, MacLeod is wounded and Donald takes command again.
The full story of Delville Wood is complicated and I cannot do it justice here. For the purpose of this study, I can do no better than simply to repeat Donald’s personal diary for the period covering the South African Brigade’s operation at Trônes, Bernafay and Delville Woods.
This section of Donald’s personal diary was published in The Springbok in September 1933 and is included in the package of Donald’s memoirs downloadable from the archives of the University of Witwatersrand.
Donald’s header notes on the entry in The Springbok say :-
This personal diary was written before, during and immediately after the Delville days. It has been tucked away in a drawer unlooked at and forgotten for seventeen years. Obviously, it is a very inadequate record and misses many of the more important scenes and incidents. Probably because of the time of stress only the nearest event of the moment was jotted down. On reading it through it has occurred to the writer that it may bring back memories of those eventful days to some of us who took part in them and may also be of interest to others.
Further reading
- Hold at all costs! The epic battle of Delville Wood 1916. Book by Ian Uys
- Battle of Delville Wood. Wikipedia page
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